Phew. We lost control from the minute Adama and Rhodes came on until about the 80th minute. We'd had several presentable chances prior to that, but we're really wasteful when it comes to finishing, and Alli is the biggest offender in this regard - as someone mentioned earlier, he misses an almost open goal (on average) once a game.
The positives -
Good, controlled first half - fast start, the opposite of what usually happens with us.
Defending - save for Sissoko's unforgivably poor defending at the back post for Gibson's goal, we did well defending, and looked assured under pressure save for when we let Adama run at our back line. Toby and Walker were great on the right, as is becoming usual - Verts and Davies were a bit more hassled on the left, but I'd put that down to Alli drifting more than anything (when compared to Wanyama's role in front of Toby + Walker).
Son - Lightning. As always, was a more frustrating with his decision-making when it comes to playing team-mates in, but boy did he look sharp, incisive and dangerous individually today.
Negatives -
Intricate approach play - if something's becoming clear to me, it's that we have two methods of creating chances - there is the quick, direct method of a long ball followed by a pass to the wing and then a cut-in and shot/lay-off for a shot, and then there's the more indirect method of a ball from deep setting up combination triangles played with increasing speed around the box until there's an open sight on goal from close-in. The former is currently our most effective route to goal, but we're looking rusty and a note off the pace on the latter - balls into feet aren't sticking, passes are usually a second or two off and we delay through balls for just a second or two longer than we have to, which usually snuffs out the chance. It's far more difficult to play close to the opponent's box, of course - but we have an area for improvement here.
Lloris' distribution - teams are picking up on his seemingly suspect clearances and long passes, and we should maybe involve him in play less until his kicking improves a tad.
Alli - looked rusty and off the pace. Being played deep really isn't suiting him, at least for now.
Overall, three points is three points - would have liked to avoid making hard work out of the game, but there isn't that much to be dissatisfied about despite that.
